This invention is related to the field of electrosurgical instruments, and in particular, to a wind-up device for storing the cord of an electrocautery hand instrument.
A number of medical electronic instruments exist in the market for use by surgeons for diagnosis and treatment. An electrocautery instrument has a hand piece with a small metal probe. A finger-operated switch functions to deliver current to the probe. The energized probe contacts the patient to provide either a cutting function or a coagulation function depending upon which switch is being manipulated on the hand piece.
The hand piece has a long electrical cord connected to a power panel.
The problem is that the cord tends to become tangled with other instruments in the surgical operating area. The instrument is sterilized so that if it should be pulled off the operating area, it must be replaced. This is a relatively expensive procedure.
A typical electrocautery unit is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,950 which issued Sep. 12, 1978 to Harold L. Pike. Another unit is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,463,759, issued Aug. 7, 1984, to Jon C. Garito, Alan Ellman and Zvi Rozensher.
A miniaturized cord and reel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,526 which issued Feb. 6, 1973 to Charles H. Blanch and James W. Kovacik.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,736, which issued Sep. 19, 1970 to Volker Scherenberg, shows a retractor for retracting a cord an electrical appliance.